Editor's note: I was a freshman at the University of Colorado in the fall of 2013. At face value, or at least in terms of the overall records of the team before The Rise season of 2016, there wasn't much to be excited about regarding CU football. However, starting in 2015, the Buffs began to show signs that they were capable of leaving the cellar of the Pac-12 Conference. I covered all of the below three games and remember feeling that they all were more important than could be derived from a tally in the loss column.

Loss #1: Oct. 3, 2015. Oregon 41, Colorado 24 (2015's Pac-12 opener): Buffs put up a first half worth remembering but crumble in final two quarters.

This game didn't kickoff until shortly after 9 p.m., making it the latest start to a game in Folsom Field history. Multiple rain delays brought on by lightning sent both teams to their locker rooms to wait things out before the game ultimately commenced.

You may recall the ugly beginning to this one; Sefo Liufau threw an bad interception on the Buffs' first drive, but luckily, Ahkello Witherspoon picked off the Ducks' Jeff Lockie in the endzone on Oregon's ensuing offensive possession.

The Buffs got the ball back and immediately lost it again on a rare Philip Lindsay fumble. The Ducks drew first blood, scoring a touchdown about five minutes into things but CU answered, with Christian Powell rushing for a TD on a drive in which Lindsay got Colorado into the redzone via a 21-yard connection from Liufau.

The Buffs kept the pressure on early in the second quarter, as a 42-yard catch by Nelson Spruce set up the Buffaloes deep in Ducks territory, where Shay Fields was eventually able to reel in a short TD catch.

At this point, Colorado was up, 14-7, on the mighty Ducks, who just three years earlier, had stomped CU into oblivion behind a 70-14 victory.

At halftime, the score was 17-all, with those of the Folsom faithful who stayed through the rain likely happy they did. The Buffs had thus far played a hell of a game.

However, as the third quarter began, the wheels began to fall off the wagon for Colorado. Its first two drives consisted of 13 plays that netted 18 yards, while the Ducks added two touchdowns on their first two third quarter possessions.

Liufau capped a 9-play, 45-yard drive with a 9-yard rushing TD to make the game 31-24 in favor of Oregon, but that would be Colorado's last glimmer of hope. CU's final two drives of the game were 3 plays for 6 yards and 4 plays for -12 yards, as the Ducks escaped Boulder with a 41-24 win.

Colorado crumbled in the second half, as had been and would continue to be a problem under Mike MacIntyre, yet the Buffaloes proved that they were capable of trading blows with a Pac-12 powerhouse.

Loss #2: USC 27, Colorado 24: CU fights to the bitter end against Southern Cal despite losing Sefo Liufau mid-game.

Colorado has had downright awful luck in years past when playing USC on the gridiron. 2015's game between Southern Cal and Colorado is a prime example. The Buffs led, 17-6 at halftime but Southern California outscored CU, 21-7 in the second half, escaping an upset in a game that Sefo Liufau suffered a Lisfranc fracture, sidelining him for six months.

It was the end of the first quarter and Colorado was penetrating near into the red zone. It was 2nd-and-8 from USC's 27-yard line when Liufau was sacked by the Trojans' Kenny Bigelow. Twisting his foot, he went down and was eventually taken off the field.

Enter the man, the myth and the legend: Cade Apsay. In his first play at the helm of CU's offense, as the second quarter began, he got to experience firsthand the beating that Liufau had taken, as Apsay was sacked seconds after taking the field. Unfazed, Apsay shortly thereafter led CU to a touchdown drive, connecting with Nelson Spruce in the right side of the endzone on a 9-yard pass.

With their star injured, and a relatively unknown in Cade Apsay in charge of the offense, Colorado took a 14-3 lead over USC. An 11-play, 65-yard drive later in the quarter yielded a field goal for CU, which took a 17-3 lead.

The Trojans got a FG of their own as halftime neared, and those in the stands at Folsom Field on that cold November night likely needed to ask themselves if they were dreaming, seeing a 17-6 score in favor of Colorado at the halfway point.

But in similar fashion to the Oregon loss, the wheels fell of the wagon for CU in the second half. By the end of the third quarter, USC had taken a 20-17 lead. The Trojans blocked a field goal try by CU early in the fourth, and a bit later, the Trojans' (and current Pittsburgh Steeler) JuJu Smith-Schuster caught a 36-yard TD pass over the diving Tedric Thompson, putting Southern Cal up 27-17.

Down but not out, the Buffs fought back, getting a late TD after a 45-yard punt return by Spruce set CU up on the USC 2-yard line.

With the score reading 27-24, Colorado got the ball once more with 4:38 to play, but the Apsay-ran offense stalled out after seven plays, advancing no further than the Colorado 43-yard line. USC ran out the clock on offense and spoiled what would have been an incredible, short-handed upset at Folsom Field.

Loss #3: Buffs take huge early lead but eventually fall to No. 4 Michigan in the Big House, 45-28

At one point in the first quarter, Colorado had somehow taken a 21-7 lead on the fourth-ranked team in the nation. I was on ground level photographing the game and will never forget the utter silence of the 110,042 fans, who rightfully were shaken to the core.

Before game three of the 2016 season at Michigan, Colorado had crushed CSU, 44-7 and obliterated Idaho State, 56-7, as many people tried to deduce just how good this Buffaloes team really was.

At the end of the day, CU was outscored, 38-7, in the final 45 minutes of play, but the stellar show the Buffs put on in such an intimidating environment and against a great team proved that Colorado was capable of doing something special in 2016.

Devin Ross and Shay Fields, Jr. ran circles around Michigan's secondary early in the game, as together they caught 3 TDs and 178 yards of receiving yards.

Michigan began to wake up as the second quarter progressed and eventually took a 24-21 lead into halftime. But 58 seconds into the third quarter, Sefo Liufau tossed a 70-yard bomb (on an injured foot) to Fields, giving CU a 28-24 lead. Unfortunately for Colorado, that'd be the last thing offensively worth noting, as the powerful Wolverines offense began to wear down the Buffs' D.

Kicker Diego Gonzalez tore his achilles, while LB Derek McCartney was also lost for the season during that game. Liufau exited as well, and a young Steven Montez was thrown into the fire, getting sacked twice with his final stat line reading 0-of-7.

The 28 points CU's offense put up was the most the Wolverines allowed all season, until Ohio State put up 30 in the final regular season game before Michigan's appearance in the Cotton Bowl.